BEFORE THE ZKM Project 99,9% and Art in the Hall Building 1980-1994
03 Oct 2010 - 03 Apr 2011
The Hall Building A, ZKM’s present location, was the biggest building of an extensive former industrial compound. It was here that the IWKA industrial complex (Industriewerke Karlsruhe Augsburg), owner of the 14 hectare area, produced consumer and industrial goods until 1978. Prior to the conversion of Hall Building A, which was to be the new address of the ZKM from 18 October 1997 on, the City of Karlsruhe had been searching for ways to put the listed factory building to new use. An increasing number of artists had been setting up their workshops and studios since 1980 on what had meanwhile become industrial wasteland.
By way of several actions which took place on the periphery of the established museum and gallery world, those involved were soon to cause great interest far beyond regional boundaries. With the aim of maintaining the studio and working facilities, a group of artists began directing the public’s attention to the potential cultural uses of this industrial wasteland. Thus, in the autumn of 1986 an exhibition was organized that was to prompt widespread public interest entitled the Letzter Arbeitsbericht IWKA – Bis zum Abriss [The Last Work Report of the IWKA – up until Demolition].
This resulted in a lively cultural scene which presented to a broad public the IWKA complex as a space for art by means of additional actions such as the interdisciplinary Projekt 99,9 % aus leerem Raum [Project 99.9% out of Empty Space] (1988/1989).
The exhibition BEFORE THE ZKM. Project 99,9% and Art in the Hall Building 1980-1994 amounts to a series of reflections on the situation of the former IWKA compound, and assembles the various artistic approaches prior to the conversion into the Center for Art and Media. Around 120 pictures, sculptures and videos will be presented in addition to large-format, mainly reconstructed picture-cycles in atria 3 and 4 of the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung [State Academy of Art and Design] (HfG). Forming part of the exhibition, these works, produced between 1980 and 1994 in Hall Building A and on the former factory premises, bring back to life the years before the ZKM.
Thanks go to the HfG Karlsruhe for supporting the realization of the exhibition.
By way of several actions which took place on the periphery of the established museum and gallery world, those involved were soon to cause great interest far beyond regional boundaries. With the aim of maintaining the studio and working facilities, a group of artists began directing the public’s attention to the potential cultural uses of this industrial wasteland. Thus, in the autumn of 1986 an exhibition was organized that was to prompt widespread public interest entitled the Letzter Arbeitsbericht IWKA – Bis zum Abriss [The Last Work Report of the IWKA – up until Demolition].
This resulted in a lively cultural scene which presented to a broad public the IWKA complex as a space for art by means of additional actions such as the interdisciplinary Projekt 99,9 % aus leerem Raum [Project 99.9% out of Empty Space] (1988/1989).
The exhibition BEFORE THE ZKM. Project 99,9% and Art in the Hall Building 1980-1994 amounts to a series of reflections on the situation of the former IWKA compound, and assembles the various artistic approaches prior to the conversion into the Center for Art and Media. Around 120 pictures, sculptures and videos will be presented in addition to large-format, mainly reconstructed picture-cycles in atria 3 and 4 of the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung [State Academy of Art and Design] (HfG). Forming part of the exhibition, these works, produced between 1980 and 1994 in Hall Building A and on the former factory premises, bring back to life the years before the ZKM.
Thanks go to the HfG Karlsruhe for supporting the realization of the exhibition.